The Puppeteer and the Scientist: A Prudent Exchange
Korosen was travelling around rapidly within his puppet, looking for an interesting target. Contrary to popular belief, not all Mercenaries fight for the sake of money alone, some fought for the sake of other things, be it entertainment, or even gaining a new acquaintance. Korosen was one of such people, setting his sights on Genshou, an elusive but master Scientist, he deigned to learn more about his unique abilities, and was busy scouting out his location amidst several different lands, using Shadow Clones to aid his search. "Well then, what do we have here." Korosen spoke to himself, having scouted the form of Genshou from a distance. His trademark clothing of disguise stood stark out no matter where he may be, and Korosen's keen eyes managed to pick him out. Deciding to observe Genshou for a while, he stood in wait amidst the trees, hidden from sight and emitting no sound. Genshou released a sigh as he searched for corpses in the forest, animals were a common find and he'd be lucky if he found an actual body. But as Korosen approached, Genshou immediately sensed it. Instead of confronting the man, Genshou continued traverse the vast forest, keeping silent. He was feeling unusually sane today, the voices in his head had kept quiet. Maybe it was the serene atmosphere, despite the stranger watching him. After spotting a poisonous centipede crawl along a withered tree, Genshou's arm freakishly lengthened in order to grab it. He took down the cloth that covered his mouth and bit into it, the juices from the crunchy bug dripped from his mouth and onto the grass blades below him. "A scientist this guy is..." Korosen thought as he looked on. He really seemed insane now that he looked at Genshou closely. He wondered whether insanity contributed to genius or vice versa, as he saw Genshou looked for corpses. Korosen could sense that Genshou had felt his presence, as he saw a glimmer of Genshou noticing him. "Well then, let's see when he makes his move." Korosen thought to himself as he stared at where Genshou was. Genshou wiped his mouth and stood straight. Afterwards, his eyes became red in color and circular patterns began to appear around his pupil. This was Genshou's Kekkei Genkai, a dōjutsu capable of analyzing something with great detail. His eyes homed in on Korosen's chakra signature and gave him many details on the man. "A Nara Clan member, eh?" he spoke to himself. "Come out, Nara. Let's get this over with!" he shouted into the trees, where Korosen hid. What Genshou saw was a Shadow Clone, which was not under the effects of the Presence Sealing Seal. However, this was enough for Genshou to draw his conclusions. "Interesting guy this is, able to detect my clan so easily." Korosen mused to himself, as he had his Shadow Clone, which Genshou identified, walk out into the open. Despite it being a shadow clone, Genshou wouldn't be able to notice the difference, as the puppet would be as durable as the original, with the shadow clone actually residing inside the puppet. "Hello Genshou, you seem to be quite the intelligent person, capable of detecting me so easily." Korosen's clone stared at Genshou through the puppet, analyzing Genshou's form and physique. Concluding that this man was unique was extremely simple, but to what extent Korosen was aiming to discover for himself. "I'm looking to test how strong you are. If you fail to meet my standards... I'll kill you. What do you say? Care to test yourself against me?" Korosen spoke, deliberately daring him to approach him in battle. Korosen was less interested in Genshou's bounty than making a potential acquaintance, though to do so he knew that he had to stay on guard - and stay on guard did his clone do. "Kill me? are you really such a pest? you spy on people who are minding their business, and then you threaten to kill them when they don't meet your standards? pathetic." he ranted. He took off his cloak, revealing a very toned body. "With this body, I'm considered an athlete." he chuckled and looked at the young man. To his side was the infamous golden blade, Muzanyaiba. He reached for it and pointed the three-pronged sword at the Nara. "I've altered this sword.." he psychotically grinned and within the blink of an eye, the sword's prongs lengthened far enough to pierce Korosen in his chest, even straight through the armor because of the speed of the attack. With inhuman speed Korosen responded, shifting sideways at speeds reminiscent of the Body Flicker. The body Korosen resided in was a puppet, nothing more. Even while the clone was not as strong as the original, it managed to easily avoid the extremely fast blow, courtesy of Korosen's incredible reqction speeds. It helped that Korosen had released his Chakra Threads as well, allowing him to slightly deviate Genshou's blade, minimizing the chances further that the sword would strike Korosen. "I was expecting you'd say that, scientist Genshou. However you seem not to understand the situation you are in." More clones formed inside the interior of The Sealed Brawler clone, increasing its speed exponentially. "I wonder if that's really all you got, considering that you proclaim yourself to have an "athlete body"." With that, Korosen's Shadow Clone unsheathed a sword from its hilt, and charged at speeds inhuman for the most part. Being controlled by chakra threads, it could undergo acceleration at the level of the 8 gates, if not more. Charging towards his target faster than Genshou had thrown his weapon, he was prepared to feint striking Genshou in the chest with his sword, then unleash an extremely high velocity punch (using his chakra threads to control the blade in secret). In this way he would unleash a punch of incredible force, rather than actually "killing" Genshou. Genshou took the punch with such force that he was sent flying through numerous trees and thick branches. He quickly recovered and Muzanyaiba had reappeared in his hand, however, he put it away. "That was fun." he laughed to himself, but he wasted no time in preparing his next plan. Genshou, using Body Alteration, had condensed his muscle mass so that he travel just about as quickly as Korosen. The centipede that he had ate earlier had began to reboot the process in which he produces poison. Knowing that Korosen was still a while away, Genshou stood still as his skin began to change, blending him in with the environment and completely suppressed his chakra. Although in the beginning, he couldn't move when the technique was active, however, he had greatly improved the technique, allowing him to move freely undetected. Korosen then used Body Flicker: Instant Projectile, charging towards Genshou at speeds he wouldn't expect. Despite there being trees, Korosen's clone, being a puppet, could had its movements freely controlled in mid air. To Genshou it would seem as if Korosen was extremely agile and fast, having rapidly appeared where Genshou was again to deal another blunt force strike, this time much greater in force than before. If Genshou were to counter, Korosen would use the extreme flexibility of the puppet to deal another strike in a completely unexpected direction, such as striking Genshou's crotch. It would seem that Korosen was not letting up one bit, cluing Genshou that Korosen was an actual pure Taijutsu master who did not use Ninjutsu. "You thought you could remain hidden from me... but nothing can hide from my sight." If Genshou looked closely, he would realize that a Chakra Thread was attached to him, a result of the previous punch unleashed by Korosen. Genshou was being lazy, he surely wasn't showing his complete potential, but he felt as though it wasn't needed. As Korosen instantly appeared in front of Genshou to deliver a blow, the scientist dashed backward, dodging the punch completely. As this happened, Genshou's leg lengthened and his foot would travel directly to Korosen's face. If the kick landed, Genshou would backflip in midair, a feat that was almost impossible for most. He ended up back on his feet, his leg back to his original form. Korosen would then feel the chakra that resonated from Genshou. He had weakened a seal of his own, the seal that locked away his monstrous form. Without the use of hand seals, Genshou created a small twister of wind in his hand that, when thrown, grew to the size of the trees that surrounded them instantaneously. The massive twister raced towards Korosen, pulling everything into it's form, except for Genshou. Korosen's speed exceeded Genshou's predictions, as Genshou forgot the addition of Body Flicker: Instant Projectile which propelled Korosen, alongside his already extreme speed. As Genshou's leg lengthened, it was met with a block by Korosen's blade, which emerged out of its sheath due to Chakra Threads. The previous thread which Genshou completely ignored further prevented Genshou's escape, as Korosen rapidly pulled Genshou towards himself, such that the full power of Korosen's strike can be felt. Needless to say, Korosen's sword would be sent flying, cutting through several trees, courtesy of the power unleashed by Genshou's strength, while Genshou would likely be forced to meet with the full impact of Korosen's massive blows, reminiscent of a Morning Peacock in strength. As Genshou unleashed the twister, Korosen's Elemental Absorption Seal immediately pulled the wind chakra into itself, giving Korosen a temporary "Wind Armour" as the technique was absorbed. Capitalizing on his puppet's extreme mobility, Korosen would use the dust storm temporarily stirred up by the tornado to hide his own movements, as he used Chakra Threads to smash several trees and nearby rocks onto Genshou. This was in preparation for his next move, which would occur in a few moments. However, as all this happened, Korosen was suddenly summoned by his Mercs Next Door friends because of an emergency. There was a lack of jutsu and they needed everyone to spam jutsu to refill the Jutsu Scrolls storage for elemental ninjutsu. It probably was some rich noble opening the scroll to spam techniques again, being too rich for their own good. "Keep it coming guys! WE NEED MORE POWER!" Everyone in MND, the leaders primarily, were scrambling to spam jutsu to earn more money. On that day, MNDs profits tripled as they passed the "breaking point"